It's win or go home.
The Blues are down 3-1 in the best-of-7 series and face elimination in Game 5 in Denver on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS) after consecutive losses at Enterprise Center in Games 3 (5-2) and 4 (6-3).
Coach Craig Berube was most concerned by the Blues' 5-on-5 play.
"We got outskated for most of the game 5-on-5. It's pretty simple," Berube said Monday. "I don't know why. We got outskated. They outskated us. Got to every loose puck. Lost a lot of puck battles … but we'll regroup today], talk a little bit, look at some stuff.
***[RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Blues series coverage]*
"We've got to play better. We can. We went in there and won Game 2 (4-1), so we're capable of doing it. The team's capable of doing it and it's just a matter of going out and executing and doing it. We've got to skate. We didn't skate [Monday]. We weren't heavy enough, we didn't win enough 50/50 battles. That's got to be a must. You've got to skate and you've got to win 50/50 battles and we need a lot more guys doing it. A lot more."
It was evident from the start that the Blues weren't winning those battles in Game 4. The Avalanche outshot them 15-3 in the first period and the only reason the Blues led 1-0 on a David Perron goal was goalie Ville Husso, who made 15 saves. But the issues at 5-on-5 was one reason for their nine giveaways in the game.
"Just got to build it more," Perron said after scoring two goals to give him nine in the playoffs. "It's pretty simple. We did it one game. We made them defend. If we turn it over at the blue line, they can just get going with speed. If we don't [make them defend] enough, we see what happened [in Game 4]. They transition. They're a good hockey team over there. They got great players, and we've got to kind of play with our depth even more than what we've been doing."
Getting on the road could be a help for the Blues. They're 2-8 at Enterprise Center since winning Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins in 2019; the two wins came against the Minnesota Wild in the first round. But they're 7-6 on the road.
"We have to find a way to regroup, win a game, bring it back here," Perron said. "That's got to be our focus.
"We need more fight in our group. We need more guys I think creating a spark. Whatever's required in the game. Whether it's chip it deep and go to work, finishing a hit, whatever."
If the Blues can't keep the series going with a win Wednesday, they will have been eliminated by the Avalanche for the second season in a row. Colorado swept the Blues in the first round last season.
